The Story Behind this Collection

This page started when I realized that Herbie sometimes
bit his adversaries.
I compiled a few examples, adding to them occasionally, and eventually,
it turned into an obsession.
It represents all the examples of Herbie's powers, recurring gags,
and oddities that I could find.
It is not complete for some areas (Herbie's speech comes to mind,
and not just his
catchphrase),
so it gets expanded sometimes.
Some compilations might even be controversial (the one on
Jewish references comes to mind, as well as racial stereotypes).
I hope that the compilations can be used for scholarly work -- Herbiology™ --
but flipping through for fun is fine.
I have used the examples to provide an explanation for Herbie's fatness,
to document why I think Richard Hughes might have been a fan of Jay Ward productions
(e.g., Rocky & Bullwinkle),
and to explain why Herbie revival attempts have failed.

Herbie's Amazing Powers: There are no limits to what powers Herbie has, as long as it fits the need. It might not be the most elegant power, but that helps make it funny.

Recurring Gags: If Herbie comics are governed by any rule, it's "Never pass up an opportunity for a joke." There are different types of gags: visual or physical gags, personality quirks, communication situations, sounds, and so on. Some of Herbie's powers are gags themselves.

Speech Patterns: Herbie's speech is terse, usually leaving out articles, pronouns, even verbs. He also has several expressions he uses repeatedly. When women ask for a kiss, he answers "No kiss." His most famous utterance is his catchphrase rhetorical question "You want I should bop you with this here lollipop?" Much of Herbie's speech seems to have a Jewish basis.

Miscellaneous Collections: Colections of Images from Herbie Comics, including covers, indicia, splash pages for each story, ending-panels for each story, examples for use in a calendar, uncaptioned panels, errors, ads, Herbie's back story and evolution, and information about the creators of Herbie.

GULP, and the stuttering form, G-GULP, are the most common expressions of fear in Herbie comics, most often uttered by Dad, villains, and male characters, but also heard from Herbie as an expression of surprise.

Herbie faces many challenges, and sometimes it gets him down. Dad, too, but those challenges are often self-inflicted. The SIGH is the most common way to express sadness, but the ultimate expression may be WOE, in a black speech balloon.

Herbie faces many challenges, and sometimes it gets him down. Dad, too, but those challenges are often self-inflicted. The SIGH is the most common way to express sadness, but the ultimate expression may be WOE, in a black speech balloon.

There are several stories in which Herbie fights for truth, justice, and the American way, often at the urging of high-level government officials, usually from the White House. Both Presidents Kennedy and Johnson ask Herbie for help, as does UN Secretary General U Thant. Herbie is that well-known.

Only a well-coordinated attack can subdue Herbie, and Herbie can be overwhelmed (until he gets impatient) by adversaries coming from every direction. Other times, Herbie's attackers are defeated all at once.

Herbie, and others, are often wondering what to do in difficult situations. Herbie likes to think, arms behind his back, while walking on land, on or under the sea, or even in space. He knows he's GONNA do something because he's GOTTA do something.

Herbie gives fair warning when he is about to take action. Usually, the threat and action both involve bopping with this here lollipop, but there are other cliché cases. Herbie either warns someone not to do something, or threatens what is going to happen.

There are many similarities between Herbie comics and Jay Ward productions like Rocky & Bullwinkle. Herbie and Boris Badenov both wear disguises. Herbie and Mr. Peabody both travel back in time to debunk history. Fractured fairy tales, famous on Rocky and Bullwinkle, are occasionally the setting for a Herbie story. Even animal love appears in Herbie comics and in Dudley Do-Right cartoons.

Herbie values education and attends school, but he is not a good student, in part because he is so unconventional. Other students make fun of Herbie, but he does not feel bullied by them. Herbie has a lot of empathy for his teachers, and helps them out.

Herbie's powers are unlimited, in part because the types of magical lollipops is unlimited, and some of Herbie's attacks don't even require lollipops, for which he has handy items. With Herbie, anything is possible.

Herbie First appeared in Forbidden Worlds in 1958, but did not get his own comic until 1964. Even by 1964, he was still evolving. His shape changed, even between the two stories in Herbie #1. His speech changed. Even his face changed. And so did the humor in Herbie stories.

Herbie has to be stealthy to get so close that he can tap them to get their attention. Because he is about three feet tall, he only taps on the shoulder when flying. Herbie has other forms of non-verbal communication, including those eyes of his.

They were different times back then. I don't think any of the stereotypes were mean-spirited, but there are examples of African, Native American (Indian), Eskimo, and Chinese stereotypes that today would probably not appear in print.

Herbie has many virtues. He has a strong sense of honor, a respect for authority, and he is empathetic, loyal, patriotic, generous, modest, and even chivalrous. And from his efforts to cope with his dad's ideas, it's clear that he's loyal to his parents, for which he is rewarded by being called a little fat nothing.

When Herbie is ready to act, he doesn't like waiting around. Enough dilly-dallying, enough shilly-shallying, or just enough. If he's in a hurry to get somewhere, he might try alternative modes of transportation.

Maybe it's from being famous and part of the reason that women swoon for him, or maybe it's related to his relationship with Professor Flipdome, Herbie is interested in and appreciates the quality of things.

Herbie's father, Pincus Popnecker, can never see through any of Herbie's disguises, or notice when Herbie is floating in air. Dad convinces himself that he is imagining the things that he thinks he sees Herbie doing.

This page shows the "splash pages" from the first page of all 52 Herbie stories. There are five stories from Forbidden Worlds + 46 stories from 23 Herbie comics + 3 non-Hughes/Whitney stories from the 1990s + a cameo appearance in Unknown Worlds #20 in 1962.

The Unknown is a mysterious world with ghosts, witches, spirits, and monsters in outer space, above the clouds on which it rests. Some of Herbie's lollipops come from the Unknown, and Herbie goes there to learn magic.

Herbie's dad refers to his disappointing son as a little fat nothing, and it's hard not to notice Herbie's shape, a shape Herbie's father once had. But Herbie is never limited by his weight. As Herbie says, "So I'm fat. So what?"

Swinging is a great gag power, so humiliating to the swung, even though it must require considerable strength. The correct technique is by the feet for humans and by the tail or trunk for animals. Under no circumstances should a costume superhero (licensed or not) be swung by his plunger... undignified. After release, who knows where someone will land -- maybe a mountain-top.

Herbie wears a plunger as a hat on his head when disguised as the Fat Fury. It never serves a useful purpose, except as a prop in a gag, usually with its own sound-effect, FWOINNNG!, as Fat Fury plunges into the ground.

Herbie is a man of few words. Herbie uses unusual speech patterns, often leaving out subjects and objects or verbs. Rather than ask "Is something happening?" Herbie will just say "Something?" sometimes in response to an attack. It can indicate being oblivious to what is going on. Also popular: HUH?

Herbie did not punch anyone until he got his own comic. Before that, he used lollipops to bop. Sometimes, Herbie is squished by a double-fisted punch. But he can give it as good as he takes, especially in rapid flurries of powerful punches.

Sometimes, Herbie just happens to have handy just what he needs. It doesn't matter where he is, the size of the item, or how unusual it would be to have it handy. Never mind where he got it from, either.

Herbie is always eating lollipops, even when sleeping. There are special lollipops for time-travel and bopping, and we learn that Herbie loses many of his powers without lollipops. Herbie is always on the look-out for hard-to-get cinnamon.

Despite having a unique physique, Herbie is able to use disguises to avoid recognition. It does not take much to fool all of the people all of the time. Herbie finds many of his disguises in a chest of costumes labeled "DISGUISES". Herbie's most famous disguise, the Fat Fury, was created in Herbie #8a.

Herbie can "fly" through the Earth, invariably ending up in Hades. He never flies all the way through to the other side, ending up in China. Flying through the Earth, we sometimes see geological layers like ones sometimes depicted in time-travel.

Whether on land, in air, in space, underwater, or on water, Herbie walks the same way. How does he breath? Does he breath? What about the pressure? Where is the light coming from? He seems deep in thought, with his hands behind his back.

We don't know why, but Herbie can't be hurt (unless it's funny). Bullets bounce off him, punches have no effect, he can't be executed, and he's not affected by fire. In many cases, Herbie is unaware he has been attacked, and even when he is aware, you could not tell by his expression.

Herbie, with a special time-travel lollipop, rides the family grandfather clock back in time, often finding that history is not as historians have claimed. Herbie is just as famous and attractive to women in the past as in the present.

Herbie is often sleeping during the day, much to his father's dismay. Herbie sleeps with his glasses on, often with a lollipop in his mouth. Herbie can sleep while sitting, lying in a hammock, and even while eating.

Herbie often bops his adversaries with special bopping lollipops, which makes bopping a power. But bopping led to his catchphrase rhetorical question "You want I should bop you with this here lollipop?" so maybe it's a gag speech pattern. Bopped bad guys would imitate Herbie's catchphrase, "He bopped me with this here lollipop!"

Herbie's dad, Pincus Popnecker, is a failed businessman with one terrible business idea after another. When Dad gets into trouble with his idea, he is bailed out by Herbie, makes a pile of money, and thinks that he is a business genius.

People from both sides of Herbie's family look like him, including his father and grandfather. Random people throughout history bear an uncanny resemblance. Some look-alikes look good to Herbie, but some are ugly to him.

No one gets injured in Herbie comics, so to show how badly someone has been beaten, they appear to be compressed, flattened, squished like an accordion. Early on, people were squished by punching, but in later stories, Herbie would fall on villains and squish them with his butt.

Summary Table of Examples Show/Hide

How to use the table:
The format is admittedly dense, but it allows an overview
of when and how often the examples appeared.

For each Herbie story (a-e from Forbidden Worlds, 1-23 from Herbie comics, DFA from the 1990s),
a "+" is shown for one example, a "#" is shown for more.
Hover your cursor over the + or # to see page numbers.

Note that 17b and 23b were reprints of FW94 and FW73 and are blank columns.

Click a column header to see the splash page for that story.

Click an asterisk to see a popup example theme.

Click the label at the right to show examples with commentary.

The bottom of the table shows the number of "themes per story":
("_" for < 20 themes, "-" for 20-29, "+" for 30-39, and "#" for 40 or more)

Each symbol links to a page of all the themes in that story.

The final row also shows the ratio of "themes per page" as a highlight:
1.5+2.5+3.5+